. and he'll be introduced by senatorsjohnmccain, byelizabeth warren and the current secretary of state, hillary clinton. it's expected to be very different than the fiery hearing yesterday in that very same room where secretary clinton made a passionate defense to republican senators aggressive questioning about what happened in benghazi. >> the fact is we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they would go kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? it's our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. >> i want to bring in ron, national correspondent and editorial director, and michael crowley, times deputy washington bureau chief. good morning, ron, let me start with you. i thought the hearing yesterday had so many fascinating moments to it. should be very different today, don't you think? >> yeah. that was probably the best moment you pulled out there. that was secretary clinton being forceful, showing some accountability,

ever happening again, senator. >> that did not satisfy the administration's leading critic,johnmccain. >>i categorically reject your answer to senator johnson about, well, we didn't ask these survivors, who were flown to ramstein the next day, that is a spontaneous demonstration. the american people deserve to know answers. >>> diffusing the debt crisis, the house moving right now to raise the debt limit, but temporarily, and there's a catch. there's always a catch. >> this bill before us is real simple. it says, congress, if you don't do a budget, you don't get paid. >> this linkage is a gimmick, it's a joke, it's not right. it's designed to put people on the spot. >>> playing offense. the nra fights back against the president. >> he's more than willing to demonize his opponents, silence his critics, and slur the nra. >> our special guest, susan o z eisenhower taking on the web ad about the obama daughters. >>> and surprise, even bo obama gets into the act as the first family greets unsuspecting tourists at the white house. with, in fact, a fist bump from the commander in chief. >>

cool. another school shooting, this one in texas. and wait until you hear what senatorjohnmccainsaidabout waterboarding and john kerry. good morning, i'm mara schiavocampo. a bitterly cold arctic blast is gripping half the nation this morning. exposure is suspected in at least four deaths, dangerously low temperatures is shutting down schools and causing water main breaks. on tuesday, one person was killed in this massive pile up of 20 vehicles caused by icy conditions in michigan. nbc meteorologist bill karins has more on this dangerous cold snap. where is it headed? >> it's settled in, just sitting there now. for many of us, especially on the eastern seaboard, this is the coldest morning in a couple years, especially when you factor in the windchills. here's the set up. it's not everyone. we're very mild today, great lakes, oklahoma, texas, through the gulf states, if you're on the other side of the jet stream from the northern plains, the great lakes and northeast, it's just like yesterday if not worse. the windchills this morning, right now the worst of it is in northern new eng

clinton was side by side withsenatormccaintointroduce kerry as the best choice to follow in her footsteps. >> he's a determined and effective representative of the united states. has been as a senator, will be as secretary. >> and things were cordial enough moments ago. senator mccain was still blasting clinton for her testimony yesterday. >> she really didn't answer any questions, her response to senator johnson about whether there was a spontaneous demonstration or not, saying it didn't matter, it didn't matter how these people died? that was stunning. that was really stunning. of course it matters. >> all right, let's dive right in and say good morning to our thursday political power. mark ginsburg, joi ann reed, ron reagan, and republican strategist susan del percio. it's great to have you all here. as we speak right now, the confirmation hearing of john kerry is taking place. started roughly after 10:00 a.m. and this is a big difference of what we saw yesterday, ironically enough, this is the senate committee that kerry technically still chairs, and he made a joke about tha

, senatorjohnmccainwasstill demanding answers. >> the american people deserve to know answers, and they certainly don't deserve false answers. people don't bring rpgs and mortars to spontaneous demonstrations. here we are, four months later, and we still don't have the basic information. >> but the harshest criticism of all came from paul legacy, senator rand paul, whose ambitions and disrespect seem to know no bounds. >> i'm glad you're accepting responsibility, i think ultimately with you leaving you're accepting responsibility for the worst tragedy since 9/11, and i really mean that. had i been president at the time and found you did not read the cables from benghazi, did not read the cables from ambassador stevens, i would have removed you from your post. >> it felt senator dick durbin to remind the chamber about actual failures and coverups. >> i do want to make one point for the record here about whether the american people are told everything right away, in the right way, so that they can be fully informed, and i'd like to refer to five words for them to reflect on, "ir

's outgoing chairman enjoyed support, just about from everybody, and from hillary clinton andjohnmccainaswell on his glide path towards confirmation to be secretary of state. that's the easy part. the hard part is what comes next. joining me now for our daily fix is chris caliz sxwl a and post politics.com nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly oh donnell and usa today's washington bureau chief, susan page. thanks very much. first to you. >> sure. >> john kerry has a lot -- very heavy lift to climbing budgets, climbing support for the state department. you have pakistan and afghanistan, with the drawal from afghanistan that will only make it harder, and that has impact on pakistan. china, and russia. leadership in russia, as you know, very, very complicated. where does he look first for support, and, you know, who wants this job? >> i would say the middle east -- the hard thing that you hit on is the challenges for a secretary of state and for the united states generally in foreign policy have not waned. they have probably increased. in libya and benghazi and secretary clinton tried to

paul, and this is also a look at -- the faces of the republicans, rand paul, ron johnson andjohnmccainlookedso pathetic. and to me, there's something called decorum. and when rand paul sits there and to the second highest ranking official in our country and someone who has done a spectacular job says i would have had your job, that's pathetic. that's the amateur hour. and that's the republicans. >> willie. >> he's got a right to challenge her on it. he's not supposed to sit there. >> that is nir jtheir job. >> and just celebrate you. >> i would have relieved you of your duty? >> that's an idiot. >> kelly o'donnell, you were up on the hill yesterday. aside from all the fireworks, we saw some good pieces of videotape there. did we learn anything new actually about what happened on september 11th in benghazi? is there any new information to come out of that hearing? >> well, there were some threads and details that were interesting, i thought. secretary clinton talked about the fact that they did not have access to the surveillance video that showed what went on for a period of weeks. i

ceiling.johnmccain's decision,i support the decision. i think women are fully qualified to carry out the mission but i want to see the same physical standard requirements. nothing of the like of a change, women would have to fit the same requirements that are in place right now for men. what is your reaction? >> i think they're not too difficult to attain. young people whether they're men or women can quite easily attain the physical standards established for the forces. there are different physical forces for special operations forces, for rangers for s.e.a.l.s and so on. they're more difficult to attain but for infantry, armor, artillery units, i don't think women, young people have any problem whatsoever with them. >> i think it's interesting and people may not realize that women limited and i want to pull up the number. quinnipiac poll, should women be allowed to serve in combat roles? 75% say yes. 22% say no. also limited how far they could rank in the military. >> if you increase the number of women who are in combat roles, in combat units, you're by definition increasing the a

as there is also opposition. remember, some senators, likesenatormccain, thinkthis is the right thing to do. i'm told in talking to officials here that president obama believes this is the right thing to do. a number of his advisers believe this is the right thing to do. this is not something that's going to be implemented overnight, of course. there's going to be a lot of thought put into what women are serving in what positions, but this is something that president obama believed certainly in consultation with his defense team was the way to move forward. >> nbc's kristin welker, thank you, kristin. >>> next, why some on president obama's team had second thoughts on using this. stay with us. ♪ america, america god shed his grace on thee ♪ [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may h

watching american politics. there'sjohnmccainandsenator dianne feinstein walking in together. susan collins behind. this is a whose-who. the singing, the saluting, the good stuff fast approaching. stay with us. you're watching msnbc's coverage of the second inauguration of the president, barack obama. sometimes what we suffer from is bigger than we think ... like the flu. with aches, fever and chills- the flu's a really big deal. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. prescription tamiflu attacks the flu virus at its source. so don't wait. call your doctor right away. tamiflu is prescription medicine for treating the flu in adults and children one year and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing. have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular